Of Blood and Monsters
Page 28
“I can’t find it,” I said, my words slurred.
“Bullshit,” he barked, obviously taking the bad cop role and leaving good cop to Jack.
Jack’s gaze focused on something beyond the windshield. “The demigod must really love you to put up with the beating he’s taking to save you.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“Crying’s not gonna help anything, Piper,” Hudson snapped. “Find your power. Ellie and Rhys need you, and you’re not even trying.”
My eyes sank closed. “I’m so tired . . .”
“You can’t die yet, Piper,” Hudson said, his voice much clearer than before. There was no mistaking his annoyance. “You said you wanted to save the demigod. Dig deep down. It’s in there.”
But I was too tired to dig. I just wanted to take a nap, even as part of my brain latched on to the hope of saving Abel.
I slid back into the gray place, only neither Hudson nor Jack was with me this time. I was alone.
Hudson had been with me over half my life, helping me search for answers about my parents’ murders and to live through my grandparents’ attempts to raise me into a compliant, dutiful granddaughter. He’d stood by my side through every life change—getting into law school, dropping out of law school, becoming a ghost whisperer, and discovering the codicil to my father’s will that said I had to trace my family lineage to Ananias Dare from the Lost Colony of Roanoke—an impossible task given the fact that the entire colony had disappeared. And he’d stayed with me, even in death.
I’d only just met Jack weeks ago, but he’d made the worst month of my life bearable. He’d tried to help me figure out all the weird things happening to me with little regard for his own safety. He’d agreed to help me before he even really knew me, going so far as to disrupt his life to stay in Asheville. He’d died and I wasn’t even sure what had happened, but I knew I’d be lost without him.
Maybe it was time for me to stand on my own.
But suddenly I wasn’t alone. A man and a woman stood in the shadows, watching me. Fear skated along my skin. My power was bound and my physical body was impossibly weak. I was a sitting duck. “Who’s there?”
They stepped forward, the shadows shifting off their faces, and I gasped. “Mom? Dad?”
They looked exactly as they had the last time I’d seen them. Mom in the blue dress Daddy loved because it brought out the blue in her eyes, and Dad in his green and white checkered shirt that Mom had tried to make him give to Goodwill. While Dad was stoic, Mom burst into tears, opening her arms in invitation. I ran into them, only I wasn’t twenty-five anymore, I was ten again, so the top of my head came to the middle of her chest.
She wrapped me tightly in her arms. “I’ve missed you, Pippy.” Her face buried into my hair.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I said, crying into her shirt.
She kissed the top of my head. “We’ve come to take you home, sweetheart.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist, in disbelief that she was with me. Hugging me. But my dad stood to the side, watching with an expressionless face, his arms crossed over his chest.
I pulled away from my mother and turned to him. “Daddy?”
His arms dropped to his sides. “You can’t come with us, Piper.”
“What are you talking about, Todd?” my mother demanded. “Of course she’s coming with us!”
“She’s not done, Theresa. She’s only just begun.”
Mom pointed a finger at him, her face red with anger. “You never wanted her to do this in the first place. Why are you forcing her to do it now?”
“Look at her, Theresa. Really look at her.”
My mother looked annoyed as she studied me. I stood eye to eye with her now, once more my twenty-five-year-old self. Suddenly, her eyes widened. “Oh.”
“She has to go back.”
Mom started to cry. “I can’t send her back to face this, Todd. It’s too much. It’s too dangerous.”
“She’s a woman now. She needs to do this.”
Tears streamed down her face, but she finally nodded. “Yes. You’re right.”
I turned to my father in confusion.
He reached for my left hand, which was bloody again. The copper bracelet dug into my skin. “Piper. Make the bracelet fall off.”
I stared up into his worried face. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Focus on the beginning and the end. Let the power fill you.”
I’d seen the beginning, but the end? He was speaking in riddles.
He cradled my hand in his, his thumb brushing the center of my palm as I closed my eyes and focused on the power embedded in my DNA.
Nothing happened.
“Piper!” I heard Hudson shout. “Find your power now!”
“I’m trying.”
“Not hard enough!”
I was going to die and leave Ellie and Collin and Rhys to deal with demons. I’d never get the chance to get to know Ellie. There was now a police station full of men and women who needed my help to move on, and I’d promised Tyler to tell his girlfriend he hadn’t slept with his boss. I had to tell Abel’s security guard’s wife that he loved her and hadn’t wanted to leave her. And without me to help him, or kill him, Abel would be at his father’s mercy for eternity. I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t let him down. I couldn’t let any of them down.
But I still had no idea how to access my power.
You can do this, Piper, the voice that had ruled my life for the past year said in my head. Go back to the beginning. Go back to the end.
In that moment, I understood the voice I’d been hearing hadn’t been Ahone after all. It was something else entirely.
As much as I hated the voice for what it had done to Abby, its advice matched what my father had just told me. Go back to the beginning? Creation? My birth? When I’d first met Abel?
And what was the end?
Then a memory popped into my head, one that had been buried for over a decade.
I was ten years old again, standing in front of the restaurant where my parents had been killed. The flashing blue and red lights bounced off the building and someone tried to get me to go inside, but I refused to budge, watching the EMTs work on my parents’ lifeless bodies. I was waiting for them to come to me.
“You’re a very brave girl,” a tall, older man said. He wore a long tunic and leaned on a staff. His long white hair matched his beard, but it was the patch over his eye that caught my attention. That and the two black birds circling high over our heads. While he looked old, somehow I knew he was strong and powerful. The older, twenty-five-year-old me knew he wasn’t Ahone. He stood next to me, but I had no idea how he had gotten there. I’d been standing alone. “You shouldn’t be here by yourself.”
I glanced up at him in surprise, feeling oddly calm, like if I were patient enough, everything would be okay. “I’m waiting for my parents.”
“I know,” he said, his voice full of sympathy. “I’m sorry for the price you have to pay.”
I blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I know, and that’s okay, but one day you will be even braver and more powerful. More powerful than you can understand. You, Piper Lancaster, will help save the world.”
I shook my head. Superheroes saved the world and I wasn’t a superhero. If I were one, I would have been able to save my mom and dad.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand,” he said. “Someday, it will all be clear. But for now, know that I’ll be watching out for you. I’ll always make sure you’re okay.”
“Piper!” I heard my grandfather shout behind me, and I spun around and saw him running toward me. Too soon. They still hadn’t come. I quickly turned around to wait, worried I’d miss them.
He squatted next to me. “Piper, look at me.”
They should have appeared by now. Had they already left me?
“Piper,” my grandfather said in a gruff voice that was heavy with emotion. “Look away.”
I’d think about what it all meant after their departure.
The older man who’d spoken to me was now walking past the policeman who had refused to let me hold my mother’s hand. The officer didn’t attempt to stop him. The birds followed.
Suddenly, Mom and Dad’s spirits were standing next to him, and the bright glowing light appeared. The older man led them toward it, but my parents stopped and said something to him. He gestured toward me and they turned to look.
I started to run for them, but my grandfather grabbed my arm and held me in place.
“Let me go!” I screamed. “I have to tell them goodbye!”
“They’re already gone, my child,” my grandfather said, his voice breaking. He tried to pick me up, but I flailed and kicked, trying to break free.
My parents were trying to get to me too, but the older man held them back.
“Why won’t you let me see them?” I shouted at the man. “Why can’t I tell them goodbye?”
“Piper.” My grandfather was openly crying, fumbling to get a better grasp on my arms.
My mother’s face wrenched with anguish, and I heard her voice float toward me. “Piper, I will always love you. Have a good life.”
My father stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder. “I love you, pip-squeak. I’ve tried my best to shield you from this, but the day will come when you have to fight the evil hiding in the darkness, when you and your daggers will play a part in the salvation of the world.”
“Daddy . . .” I started to cry as it hit me that my parents were about to walk away from me. Forever. “I’m scared.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that. I wish I could stay and help you through this, but one day, you’ll find the help you need. I’ve been assured of that.”
“I don’t understand,” I said through my sobs.
Tears swam in his eyes. “I know, but you will one day. Just remember that there is greatness in you. Make me proud, Piper.”
Mom put a hand on his shoulder. “You put too much on her, Todd.” She turned to me, tears streaming down her face. “There are many powers in this world, baby, but don’t forget the power of love.”
Then they turned and walked into the light, leaving me orphaned and alone.
I fell to the sidewalk, sobbing my pain and grief.
My grandfather scooped me into his arms and started to carry me to his car, but the older man approached us.
Part of me knew I should fear him—even now in my distress I could feel his immense power—but all I felt was defiance.
“You could have saved them,” I spat out.
“No, Piper,” my grandfather said, his chest heaving with his own sobs. “No one could have saved them. They were already gone.”
The older man walked beside us, and I realized my grandfather couldn’t see him.
“What do you want?” I asked in a venomous tone. “Why are you walking with us?”
Grandfather released a heavy sigh. “Piper, you’re too old for imaginary friends.”
But I knew they weren’t imaginary, even if everyone but my father had insisted they weren’t real. He had taught me to hide my “friends” from everyone, which was hard considering I often wasn’t sure which of my friends were living or dead.
“I want to go to the light,” I said to the man. “I want to go with my mom and dad.”
Horror washed over my grandfather’s face. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You have a place with your nana and me. We’ll take care of you.”
The older man shook his head with a sad smile. “You can’t go, Piper. It’s not your time.” He gave my grandfather a long look. “Don’t worry about upsetting your grandfather. This will be forgotten, by both of you, and you won’t see the ghosts again until it’s time.”
“Time for what?” I asked.
“Time to face your destiny.”
The memory faded and something deep in my chest began to burn. The heat built in intensity, and just when I was sure I couldn’t handle the pain, it burst free, spreading throughout my body, stealing my breath. Then the heat focused on my left wrist, the metal burning my skin before it exploded.
I bolted upright, my eyes flying open, and I was in the back of Abel’s car, completely healed and filled with so much power I could barely contain it. Fragments of the bracelet were embedded in the seats, roof, and back doors of the car.
My gaze was drawn to Abel, who stood about twenty feet in front of the car still engaged in a battle with the demons. I could feel his simmering power, but I also felt his fatigue.
I glanced down at my left palm. The gaping wound was gone, replaced by a one-inch-long pink scar, making it look like I’d been crucified, especially when I turned my hand over to look at the scar of the exit wound. I could feel the power of the marks that were supernaturally embedded in my skin, as well as the three marks still below the surface, waiting for their times to emerge, and I knew them for what they were.
The mark of Kewasa.
The mark of the god killer.
The mark of the mother of gods.
I stared at my palm in horror.
No! I refused to give Okeus children. I’d kill myself first.
Jack was gone, but Hudson was still in the front seat, only he was no longer translucent. He was watching the fight in front of us. “You can’t save him, Pippy. You need to stop wasting your time on this and fight the demons.”
“I can save him and fight the demons.” Power was racing through my body. I could harness the power to stop the marks from appearing. I’d find a way.
But Hudson shook his head, pity filling his eyes. “You’re only making the inevitable more difficult. But for now, grab your weapons and fight.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Piper
Abel had dumped my belt with my daggers on the floor of the backseat, so I grabbed it and quickly wrapped it around my waist and fastened the buckle.
When I stepped out of the car, I saw that the demon army had come to a halt, but it was Abel who commanded my attention.
He was covered in blood, but so were the creatures that attacked him.
“You can’t have her!” he shouted, slashing at one of the demons as it advanced while holding back another with my sword.
“Piper?” Rhys gasped when she saw me, her face covered in tears. “You’re glowing. Are you dead?”
Was I? I glanced down at my body, taking in the drying blood on my bare abdomen and chest, wondering where my shirt had gone and why I was once again battling demons in only a bra. At least I had pants this time. “No,” I said, still feeling out of it. “I don’t think so.”
“Jack.” She started crying again, and it was then I noticed the blood on her own hands and arms.
“I know,” I said. “He came to me.”
“As a ghost?” she asked with a small wail.
I nodded, tears filling my eyes.
“Helen killed him,” she said, anger filling her words. “He said she’s coming for you.”
I sucked in a breath. I was surprised she’d killed Jack, but the rest of the news didn’t surprise me. She’d made it clear I wasn’t her favorite person. “She warned me that she wouldn’t let me kill Abel.”
“She plans to kill you first.”
The demons seemed like a bigger concern, but I was still only half-there, drunk with power and ready to defend the people I loved. “I’ll take care of her.”
A tiny part of my heart turned cold. I would take care of her. I’d find a portal to hell and send her there.
“Now get in Abel’s car and wait for me,” I said. “You have no business being out here.” I turned to Olivia, who was walking toward us. “Get in the car with Rhys
and wait.”
“I want to help,” she said with a fierce look.
“You need to keep Rhys safe. In the car.”
Rhys opened the passenger door. “Piper, be careful.”
I nodded, but I was already turning my attention to the scene in front of me.
“Where is Tsawasi’s army?” I called out, and four startled faces turned to face me.
“Piper?” Ellie called out in shock.
But Abel looked the most startled. One of the creatures in front of him got in a blow to the head, but thankfully it didn’t knock him down.
“Where is your army, Tsawasi?” I shouted, my voice booming through the night.
The little man appeared next to me, his mouth dropped open in shock. “You live.”
“Observant,” I said. “Tell me how to stop the mark.”
His eyes darkened. “An army advances and you’re concerned with saving the demigod?”
I snatched one of my daggers from its sheath and leaned over to point it to his chest. “At least I stand here ready to fight to save the world—humans and supernatural creatures alike. What the fuck have you been doing? Hiding behind your weak, half-hearted promises.” I stood upright, scared of the depth of my anger and the power that accompanied it. “Call your army.”
I strode toward Abel without looking back to see if he’d heeded my order.
“Piper,” Collin gasped as I walked past him. “I’m sorry.”
I cast him a moment’s glance, unsure what he was talking about, but the only thing that mattered now was my destiny, my life, my love.
Abel.
He was fighting the two remaining creatures and I joined him, my daggers drawn and ready.
Abel sent a wave of power toward me. Go to the seer.
I’m not injured, Abel. I’m fully healed. “My place is with you, Abel. I stand with you.” And I knew in my heart it was true.
I stood in place, staring into the eyes of one of the six-foot-tall demons. They looked like dogs with massively broad shoulders and long front arms that held them upright while they squatted on their shorter back legs. They stopped their attack on Abel and watched me.
The demon army came to a halt behind the Botageria. From the distance, they had looked to all be the same, but up close, I could see the differences. The shorter demons stood in front, reminding me of bulldogs but with more buglike faces. The next wave of demons were taller, more animallike than human, fierce with deadly claws and teeth. Behind them stood a wave of elemental demons, and a wave of winged demons lingered behind them. I couldn’t see past the first few lines, but I could feel the rest of them. I knew they were there.